LAS CRUCES - Joseph Garza, Trevor Noel and Kai Williams may have received the headlines throughout a state championship season for Las Cruces High.

But the Bulldawgs run through the Class 5A state basketball tournament wouldn't have been possible if not for the contributions from role players such as Kamryn Dixon and Gilbert Sigala.

Prior to their championship banquet Saturday evening at the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, the team reflected on such a feat.

"We had J.T. Romney who is flat-out energy and Malik (Woods), who is the guy next year but he got the experience of being there," Dixon said. "I didn't play well in The Pit so he (Woods) came in for me. We weren't a selfish team."

Bulldawgs coach William Benjamin inserted Sigala and Dixon into the starting lineup for good in the District 3-5A championship game against Gadsden.

"They were seniors and they were ready," Benjamin said. "Kamryn understood what his role was and Gilbert was ready to figure it out. He just figured it out at the right time."

Sigala started the season in the starting lineup, but came off the bench in the middle of the year.

"After awhile studying film, it finally clicked and I realized that I could do what (Benjamin) was saying that I could do," Sigala said. "We all learned from our mistakes from our sophomore year all the through now. We finally put it all together.

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Dixon was coming off a football state championship in the fall that helped him earn a scholarship to play at Eastern New Mexico next year. A bench player throughout his career, Dixon had 22 rebounds in four state tournament games this year, helping the Bulldawgs out-rebound Clovis 44-28 in a 61-49 victory in the championship game.

"I wanted to start but it didn't matter as long as I helped the team," Dixon said. "I would usually play in the fourth quarter anyway."

Winning two championships in the same year was a culmination of sorts for Dixon.

"We lost by a buzzer-beater to Manzano my sophomore year and in my junior year we lost in the first round in football and basketball," Dixon said. "Senior year we had seen everything. It was kind of like that is how it's supposed to be."

Sigala scored 15 points with eight assists and six rebounds in the championship game, guarding Marquette-bound guard John Dawson, who had two points on 1-for-8 shooting in the championship game. For the tournament, Sigala was 6-for-10 from the field, 17-for-24 from the foul line with 11 turnovers and a team-high 21 assists.

"I realized from watching (Dawson) that he can get to the basket anytime he wants so instead of getting up into him, I tried to make him a shooter," Sigala said. "He can do it all, but I thought if I could make him a shooter, I could limit his shots."

Sigala also guarded La Cueva guard Bryce Alford in a 64-58 win in the quarterfinals.

"He always took the tough assignment as far as perimeter guys," Benjamin said. "He caused the turnover, which led to us beating Hobbs. He did a great job making Alford work so maybe those last shots he had, maybe he didn't have his legs. (Sigala) is a great athlete."

Woods, Romney, Sam Denmark and other players off the bench helped the Bulldawgs seven seniors go out on top and bring the title to LCHS for the first time since 1976.

"They deserved it," Woods said. "They have been in the program for four years battling. It was great to help them get their goal."

With pieces such as Woods and Romney returning next year, the Bulldawgs have a core group who were main contributors on a title team.

"It was a team effort," Benjamin said. "We had our main three, but our bench I thought was the key."

Jason Groves can be reached at (575) 541-5459. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves